Skate



June 21, 1949. J. WUTZ 2,474,082

SKATE Filed March 29, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 21, 1949UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICE 1 Claim. 1

The present invention relate 'to roller skates, of simplified andimproved construction, wherein the rear wheel of a skate is carried by aball bearing caster to provide a skate permitting easy and convenientturning and other movements to be performed with dispatch and skill.

It is an object of this invention to provide a skate wherein the heeltracking unit is carried by -a pivoted caster truck.

It is also an object of this invention to provide :a skate wherein therear truck i pivotally supported beneath the heel section of the skateto facilitate turning maneuvers in the execution of "fancy gyrations.

It is a further object of this invention to pro-- vide an improved typeof skate wherein the rear tracking member is carried by a caster-liketruck .the pivotal swinging movement of which is adapt- .ed to becontrolled.

It is furthermore anobject of this invention to provide an improved typeof roller skate wherein the rear portion of the skate is supported byimeans of a ball bearing wheel caster.

Still another object of the invention i to provide an improved type ofroller skate wherein the wheels are arranged to project above the sides.and the rear of the skate frame to lower the center of gravity of theskate, said skate having the rear wheel disposed to the rear of the heelportion of the skate and pivotally supported for lat- .eral swingingmovement within prescribed limits.

It is an important object of this invention to provide an improved andsimplified form of a roller wherein the rear tracking member i supportedon a ball bearing truck or bracket permitted to Swing transverselybetween predetermined points adjustable toward and away from the sidesof the supporting truck, to provide a skate permitting a large latitudein the gyrations adapted to be practiced through the manual control ofthe movements of the swivel support of the rear tracking member.

Other and further important objects and features of the invention willmore fully appear from the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate severalembodiments thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a roller skate embodying theprinciples of this invention;

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view of the skate;

Figure .3 is a front elevational View of the skate;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of 2 the heel end of.theiskate'illustrating the pivotal movement ofthe rear wheel in dottedlines;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of a modified form of roller skate(constructed to permit the skate frame to be positioned closer to thefloor;

Figure 6 is a front elevational view o'f-the modified form of skateshown in Figure 5.

As shown on thedrawings;

Referring to Figures :1-to 4 which illustrate one form of the invention"and which show a clamp type of roller skate, the referencenumeral Iindicates a longitudinally disposed skate frame or chassis bar providedwith longitudinally disposed guide slots 2 for receiving adjusting screwbolts 3. The screw bolts 3 are carried by a heel plate 4 and by a footplate?) to permit said plates to be longitudinally adjusted toward oraway from one another on theyframe bar IV for varying the length of theskate chassis.

The front portion of the roller skate may be of any standard rollerskate construction, and in the present instance consists of a pair ofsole clamps 6 which are adapted to be adjusted transversely of the footplate 5'by means of a right and left threaded adjusting screw I mountedon a bracket 8 beneath the front portion of the sole plate 5. Asclearlyillustrated in Figure 3 the opposite ends of the screw 1 arethreaded through threaded openings indownwardly projecting portions ofthe sole clamps 6.

Rigidly supported underneath the foot plate 5 to the rear of thesole-clamp 6, is a front tracking unit comprising a truck9 providing asupport for a front axle [0 having rotatably mounted onithe outer endsthereof a pair of ball bearing wheels The rear portion of the. skatechassis which in cludes the heel plate 4 is so constructed that the heelplate may be slidablymoved along the frame bar I when the respectiveclamping bolts 3 are released. The heel-plate 4 may be of any desiredconstruction such as shown in Figures 1 to 4, and includes a heel backor seat l2 provided with slots 13 for the reception of heel straps (notshown) for holding the rear portion of the skate on a persons foot.

A novel feature of theimproved roller skate involves the use of anordinary typeof ball hearing caster tracking unit which is pivotally oradjustably mounted on the rear portion of the skate frame I to serve'asa rear tracking or steering means. The caster tracking unit comprises astandard type of caster or ball bearing unit M the top plate orsectionof which is formed with a ball race and is rigidly secured to thebottom of the rear portion of the skate frame I. The bottom section orplate of the ball bearing unit 14 is also formed with a ball race andcarries ball bearings. The bottom plate is rotatable with respect to theupper plate section and has rigidly secured to the bottom thereof acaster yoke comprising a pair of spaced arms 15 having the upper endsthereof rigidly connected together by means of a cross piece which isrigidly secured to the bottom section of the ball bearing unit 14. Thetwo yoke arms of the caster unit extend down- Wardly and rearwardly andare connected by means of a wheel axle 16 forming a support for a rearball bearing wheel ll. Retaining nuts I 8 are engaged on the outerprojecting ends of the rear wheel axle I6. As clearly illustrated inFigure 1 the rear caster wheel I! is positioned beneath the rear end ofthe skate frame and due to the ball bearing support of the caster unitthe lower portion of the unit is adapted to pivotally swing transverselyof the skate frame. This arrangement permits the wearer of this castertype roller skate to execute circular or are shaped movements with easeby the movement of the skate frames, and the front wheels with respectto the rear wheels, by the controlled movement of the operators feet byshifting the persons weight forwardly on the balls of the feet therebyeasing the pressure on the heel portions so that the rear caster wheelsof the skates may be readily maneuvered to permit execution of theturning movements desired.

For the purpose of limiting the transverse movement of the rear casterwheel on a skate a pair of brackets l9 are secured to the bottom ofopposite sides of the rear portion of the heel plate 4. Each of thebrackets 19 carries a stop screw 20 which is threaded through the lowerportion of a bracket 19 and is adapted to be held in an adjustedposition by means of lock nuts 2!. The inner ends of the stop screws 20-are thus adapted to be positioned a desired distance apart so that thecaster arms l5 in their swinging movement will contact the stop screwsto limit the swing of the caster unit so that the radius of the curvedpath of movement may be controlled to permit sharp or gradual turns tobe easily executed depending upon the position of the rear wheel casterunit with respect to the skate frame.

It will of course be understood that the brackets l9 and the stop screws23 may be omitted, if desired, to permit the rear caster wheel unit tobe rotated through a complete revolution with respect to a skate frame.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a modified form of caster type roller skatewhich is so constructed that the center of gravity of the skate is muchlower than that of the skate illustrated in Figure 1. The frame andclamp mechanisms of the modified form of skate are substantially thesame as those shown in the skate illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 and likeparts are designated by corresponding reference numerals. In themodified form of skate the front ball bearing wheels 22 are mounted toproject upwardly above opposite sides of the foot plate 5 of the skate.This is accomplished by providing a longer front axle 23 which issupported on a front truck or bracket 24 the downwardly projecting armsof which are comparatively short thereby permitting the front end of theskate frame to be positioned between the wheels instead of above thesame.

To permit the rear end of the skate frame to also be lowered the rearcaster mechanism consists of a ball bearing unit 25 to which a casterfork or yoke 26 is secured by attachment to the lower plate section ofthe ball bearing unit as clearly illustrated in Figure 5. The fork armsproject rearwardly beyond the back end of the skate frame and support arear axle 21 on which a rear ball bearing caster wheel 28 is rotatablysupported. By means of the construction of the caster fork 26 the rearcaster wheel 28 projects upwardly above the plane of the skate frame I.A skate construction is thus provided wherein the center of gravity ofthe skate is materially lower and wherein the two front Wheels areseparated a distance greater than the space between the front wheels ofthe ordinary types of roller skates.

By means of the rear wheel carrying caster unit, a low center of gravityskate is provided which is safer for use by children and might bepreferred by inexperienced skaters, because of the Wide tracking gaugeof the front wheels in addition to the low center of gravity of theskate.

It will thus be noted from the description of the skates illustrated anddescribed that roller skates may be provided wherein the rear trackingunit may be supported by a ball bearing caster unit or by any othersuitable pivotal supporting unit which will permit the rear trackingmember to pivotally swing transversely of the rear portion of the skateframe. Traveling over a smooth surface such as a roller skating floor isthus greatly facilitated and permits a person Wearing the skates toeasily execute turns, gyra" tions, or fancy figures by causing aswinging movement of the rear tracking unit in the desired direction byskillful manipulating or maneuvering of the forward portions of theskates by the shifting of a persons weight combined with the turning ofthe feet to accomplish a desired turn or the execution of a fancy figureor skating movement.

It is to be understood that various other details of construction may bevaried through a wide range without departing from the principles ofthis invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patentgranted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appendedclaim.

I claim as my invention:

A skate comprising a chassis, means for supporting the same on a shoe, afront truck bracket rigidly secured to the chassis, wheels supportedthereon, a ball bearing caster bracket supported on the rear portion ofthe chassis, a rear wheel supported on the caster bracket, bracketssecured on opposite Sides of the rear portion of the chassis, andadjustable means carried by the brackets and positioned on oppositesides of the caster bracket in position to be contacted thereby to limitthe swinging movement thereof.

JOHN WUTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 79,329 DuBois June 30, 1868177,568 Saladee May 16., 1876 1,144,134 Jones June 22, 1915 1,194,102Webb Aug. 8, 1916 1,632,997 Connolly June 21, 1927

